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Saturday, June 23, 2012

93. French Macarons

I have been wanting to make dainty delicate French macarons for the longest time, but kept putting it off because of how complicated and intimidating all the recipes I read are.Now that I have 6 egg whites left from the pistachio ice cream recipe, I have no more excuses.
The mere mention of using a thermometer puts me off. That was until I found this recipe on 52 kitchen adventures, which is almost no different then whipping up a meringue, which I have done countless times. No thermometer, no fuss, no stress.
And I still got the delicately puffed shells, the wonderful lace skirt, and the perfectly moist interior once bitten into.
Just to be safe, do use your kitchen scales for this one.
For my first try, I loved my perfectly imperfect macarons!
I sandwiched them together using raspberry jam. You can choose whatever food coloring and filling you want: jam, peanut butter, nutella, ganache, curd...

In the food processor, pulse the powdered sugar and ground almonds until combined, set aside.

Whisk the egg whites until foamy.
At this stage, slowly add the regular sugar all the while whisking to a soft peak stage.
Add the powder food coloring (very little goes a long way), and whisk until evenly distributed.
Fold in a third of the almond-sugar mix, then fold in the rest.

Pour the mixture in a piping bag.
Pipe circles on parchment paper, trying to keep them approximately the same size.
Allow to dry at room temperature at least 45 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 300°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes.
Allow to cool completely.

Sandwich together using the jam of your choice, pairing the most similar sized circles together.